Glossary of terms

AONB	Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Asset	A capital cost item.
Audit	A process whereby an aspect of operations is critically evaluated from legal and good practice standpoints.
Benchmarking	A process allowing comparison of one data set (e.g. company performance) to another (e.g. industry performance).
Biodiversity	The variety of life forms around us. The term covers all lifeforms, from mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians to plants, fungi and micro-organisms including bacteria and viruses.
Consent	A permit defining levels of legally allowed operational performance.
Controlled Waters	Watercourses under Environment Agency control.
CO₂	Carbon Dioxide.
CSO	Combined Sewer Overflow.
DEFRA	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Now holds responsibility for the guidelines for Conservation, Access and Recreation reporting.
DETR	Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, former department responsible for the guidelines for Conservation, Access and Recreation reporting. Responsibilities moved to DEFRA.
DWI	Drinking Water Inspectorate. The government body which regulates the water industry, ensuring compliance with Drinking Water Standards.
EA	Environment Agency.
EMS	Environmental Management System.
Environmental Management Champions	Those with responsibility for (a component of) Environmental Management and its communication to a wider audience within the organisation.
Final Effluent	Liquid wastewater at treatment end point.
HSE	Health and Safety Executive.
Intranet	Internal company-wide website available to staff only.
KPI	Key Performance Indicators.
kWh	Kilowatts per hour, a unit of energy.
Loss	Loss to a business is a negative consequence that can be financial, reputational, environmental, of time or resources etc.
Management Control	Management decisions and actions undertaken to prevent losses occurring.
Management System	A systemised approach to management control (usually involving formal documentation and manuals containing operational instruction).
Ml	Megalitre. One million litres, a volumetric measurement.
Ml/day	Megalitres per day.
NGOs	Non-government organisations.
Ofgem	Office of Gas and Electricity Markets.
OFWAT	Office of Water Services, the government body with legal responsibility to regulate the water industry.
Risk	The likelihood of an incident occurring (with associated potential to cause loss).
Save-a-Flush bag	The water-displacement device used in the toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water used when flushing.
Screening Opinion	Technical opinion of potential environmental impact of a proposed development submitted to local planning authority.
Settlement tank	These are used to settle-out solid matter from liquid wastewater at several stages in the treatment process.
Sludge recycling	Use of the bioproduct from wastewater treatment as a soil conditioner and fertiliser.
SSSI	Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Stakeholders	Those that may affect or be affected by particular decisions, activities or operations.
SUDs	Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.
Target	A level of performance set for attainment.
Turbidity	A measure of the opaqueness of a liquid.
UKWIR	UK Water Industry Research Limited.
Wash water recovery	Where excess water used in treatment works for water supply is recycled back into the treatment works.
Wastewater Treatment	Involves separation of solid matter from wastewater followed by biological (and sometimes other kinds of) treatment of liquid.
Water UK	The industry association which represents UK water and wastewater services suppliers at national and European level.
WSW	Water Supply Works.
WTW	Wastewater Treatment Works.